Method for producing cast three dimensional building components

ABSTRACT

A method of producing cast three-dimensional building components having four substantially flat walls defining a tubelike portion of said component, the component having four adjacent walls thereof successively flat cast on the four walls of a rotating mold. Prior to casting, longitudinally extending corner members are fixedly but detachably positioned adjacent the four corners formed by the four walls of the rotating mold. The corners are positioned at a distance form the walls of the mold equal to the thickness of the walls of the component. After wach wall of the component has been cast, a rigid panel is positioned against the exposed inner surface of the cast wall and is held in position by means of braces which extend between the corresponding corner member, thereby enabling rotation of the mold to permit sequential casting of the four walls.

Much 1973 A; c. VERBEKE METHOD FOR PRODUCING CAST THREE DIMENSIONAL BUILDING COMPONENTS 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed April 21, 1971 March 19, 1573 v 3,798,300

NETHOD FOR PRODUCING CAST THREE DIMENSIONAL BUILDING COMPONENTS Filed April 21, 1971 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Hll.

MZA M/ W March 19, 1973 A c V K 3,798,300

HETHOD FOR PRObUCING CAST THREE DIMENSIONAL BUILDING COMPONENTS Filed April 21, 1971 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 cc? 00 ou r'av r-i 1-1 Ma, w

March 19, 1973 V R 3,798,300

IETHOD FOR PRODUCING CAST THREE DIMENSIONAL BUILDING COMPONENTS Filed April 21, 1971 5 Sheets-Sheet l 4155 F7 6. VAIPBf/ff March 19, 1973 Q VER KE METHOD FOR PRODUCING CAST THREE DIMENSIONAL BUILDING COMPONENTS Filed April 21, 1971 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 18 No w w r lo m I a q 0 o m 0 PO TD 6 ,3, F1 0 v-i D a 3 F" m 5 Om D I\ L O m o O zzzzzzzzl m g g Z 3 4 9w m o O w gmm m r MZ KM W United States Patent Oflice Patented Mar. 19, 1974- 3,798,300 METHOD FOR PRODUCING CAST THREE DIMEN- SIONAL BUILDING COMPONENTS Albert C. Verbeke, Lille, France, assignor to BATIR Filed Apr. 21, 1971, Ser. No. 136,140 Claims priority, application France, Sept. 17, 1970, 7033663 Int. Cl. B28b N20 US. Cl. 264-250 5 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A method of producing cast three-dimensional building components having four substantially flat walls defining a tubelike portion of said component, the component having the four adjacent walls thereof successively flat cast on the four walls of a rotating mold. Prior to casting, longitudinally extending corner members are fixedly but detachably positioned adjacent the four corners formed by the four walls of the rotating mold. The corners are positioned at a distance from the walls of the mold equal to the thickness of the walls of the component. After each wall of the component has been cast, a rigid panel is positioned against the exposed inner surface of the cast wall and is held in position by means of braces which extend between the corresponding corner members, thereby enabling rotation of the mold to permit sequential casting of the four walls.

The present invention concerns a method for producing cast three-dimensional building components in concrete or the like, comprising six walls constituting the top, bottom and four lateral faces of a complete closed cell, in which method four adjoining faces of the cell are successively cast flat on the four walls of a rotating mould. The invention also deals with equipment for performing this method.

The production of such building components in a mould of the rotating type is well-known. It should however be pointed out that in a rotating mould it is only possible to cast four faces of the cell on the flat, the two other faces generally being prefabricated separately and positioned at the two ends of the mould before casting proper of the cell is carried out. However, to offset the cost of this type of material which is relatively expensive, it is desirable that the rate of production be as high as possible.

When the material to be cast is a plastic material, which sets rapidly, there is no problem. This unfortunately is not the case when, for example, cells of reinforced concrete are to be produced. Then, it is necessary successively to fit inside the mould the means for reinforcing the walls of the cell, various lagging or other panels, steel bracing elements and so on. Then, one of the faces, for example, the bottom face, of the cell is cast, and it is then necessary to Wait until the concrete has set hard enough before turning the mould through a quarter of a revolution so as to continue with the casting of the next face. However, concrete necessarily requires a certain time in which to set, even when setting is accelerated by the application of heat.

The present invention is concerned precisely with reducing the time during which the rotating mould is immobilized, so as to increase its production rate.

To achieve this, an object of the invention is to provide a method of production of the above-mentioned type which is mainly characterized in that it consists in removably fixing beforehand longitudinal corner irons in the four interior corners formed by the four walls of the rotating mould, and at a distance from the walls of the mould equal to the thickness of the walls of the cell.

Furthermore, after casting of each face of the cell, the two corresponding corner irons are braced by means of cross-members which serve to hold rigid panels against this face.

It will be readily appreciated that, because of this arrangement, the speed of rotation of the mould can be considerably increased. As each cast face of the cell is firmly held against the corresponding wall of the mould by the corner angles and the cross-members associated with the rigid panels, the mould can be turned without waiting for the concrete to set completely.

Generally, the rotating mould comprises in known manner a base which can be moved horizontally and parallel with the axis of rotation of the mould, and which enables the finished cell to be readily removed from the mould.

In accordance with another feature of the invention and in the case where the rotating mould is fitted with a movable base, the means for reinforcing the concrete walls of the cell is arranged outside the mould and on a displaceable jig frame adapted also to accommodate the four corner irons, the jig so prepared then being placed on the movable base of the mould for introduction into the interior of the mould.

Thus, the arrangement of the reinforcing means, which is a relatively lengthy operation, can be elfected outside the mould during the casting of the previous cell, and this constitutes an appreciable saving in time. Furthermore, because of the movable base, no difficulty is involved in introducing the reinforcing means into the mould and, in addition, said means is positioned automatically.

The corner irons carried by the jig are firmly fixed in the four corners of the mould and directly on the walls thereof, after which the jig is removed from the mould so that the jig can be used again immediately for assembling another reinforcing means.

The cast cell is removed from the mould on the movable base after the corner irons have simply been detached from the walls of the mould.

Thus, the walls of the cell remain firmly in position as a result of the use of the corner irons braced by the cross-members and of the rigid panels, and this enables the cell to be removed very rapidly from the mould and to be positioned, while remaining on the base of the mould, in a suitable place where it can dry out completely. During this'time, the mould can be used for casting another cell, a second interchangeable movable base of course being provided.

It will be seen from the foregoing that by using the method of production of the invention, the periods during which the rotating mould is immobilized are reduced to a strict minimum, so that its production rate can be considerably increased.

Equipment for performing the method of production in accordance with the invention is manly characterized in that it comprises, in combination: a rotary mould having a movable base and comprising means for fixing a corner iron in each of the inside corners formed by its four Walls; at least one displaceable jig frame adapted temporarily to accommodate the means for reinforcing the cell as well as the four corner irons; cross-members for bracing the corner irons in pairs aginst the inside of the mould; and rigid panels adapted to be held against the inner faces of the cell by the cross-members.

In one particular embodiment of the invention, the means for fixing the corner irons are constituted by screwbolts cooperating with nuts welded on to the walls of the mould, each screw-b0lt passing through a tapered sleeve which forms a stay and which is welded to the corresponding corner iron.

Thus, because of the presence of the tapered sleeves, the corner irons are rigidly secured to the walls of the mould but can nevertheless be readily removed from the cell at a later stage.

Preferably, the corner irons are provided with gussets which enable the ends of the bracing cross-members to be secured by means of simple pegs. By means of this arrangement, the cross-members can be placed in position very rapidly, and they can also be quickly taken down.

An embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of example and by reference to the attached drawings, in which:

. FIG. 1 is a simplified front elevation of a three-dimensional building component obtained by the method of production in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal section through this component, on the line II-H of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a simplified front elevation of the rotating mould used for producing the cell illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 4 is a longitudinal section through this mould, on the line IVIV of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a front elevation of the jig used for assembling the means for reinforcing the walls of the cell;

FIG. 6 is a schematic view illustrating the introduction of the prepared jig into the rotating mould;

FIG. 7 is a partial sectional view showing details of the means for fixing the corner angles on the walls of the rotating mould;

FIG. 8 is a schematic view illustrating how the jig is retracted after the corner irons have been fixed;

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view of the cell fitted with its bracing cross-members;

FIG. 10 is a partial sectional view on the line X-X of FIG. 9;

FIG. 11 is a partial view, on a larger scale, showing details of the means for fixing a cross-member on the corresponding corner iron;

FIG. 12 is a sectional view on the line XH--XII of FIG. 11; and

FIG. 13 is a schematic view illustrating how the cast cell is extracted from the mould.

The three-dimensional building component illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 is a generally rectangular parallelepiped shape and comprises six cast concrete walls, namely the top wall 1, the bottom wall 2 and the four lateral faces 3 forming a closed cell 4. Such cells are used in known manner for constructing prefabricated buildings, in particular individual dwellings, each cell being capable of forming a complete room.

Each cell is of course provided with all the necessary openings for doors and windows, and it comprises for example, as in the particular embodiment here illustrated, a rectangular Opening 5 in each of its small lateral faces 3.

It might also be pointed out that this cell 4 is of the type described in patent application No. 70 33492 filed in France on Sept. 16, 1970, in the name of the present applicants. The wall forming the bottom or floor 2 comprises on its outer face two lateral longitudinal webs extending over the entire length of the cell, the main purpose of these being that of facilitating the servicing of the cell, as described in detail in the above-mentioned patent application.

Referring now to FIGS. 3 and 4, there is shown the rotating mould used for producing the cell illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2. This rotating mould comprises firstly a rigid frame manly constituted by circular hollow uprights 7, which are four in number in the arrangement here described and which are supported at their lower parts by two groups of rollers 8. The frame of the mould can thus be rotated about its longitudinal axis by a drive motor 9 acting on at least one of the uprights 7 by way of the corresponding rollers 8. Inside this frame there are fitted four metallic walls namely: a lower wall 10, an upper wall 11 and two side walls 12. Four adjacent faces of the cell 4 are flat-cast successively on these four walls. In the example here described, the cell walls in question are the bottom wall 2, one of the large lateral faces 3, the top wall 1 and the other large lateral face.

It will be quite clear that with a rotating mould of this kind it is only possible to fiat-cast four faces of the cell. The two small lateral faces 3, i.e. those containing the openings 5, are therefore prefabricated separately and placed in position at the two ends of the mould before casting proper of the cell begins.

The top wall 11 and the two side walls 12 of the mould can be displaced by means of hydraulic cylinder and piston units such as those shown at 13, and they can thus be moved slightly nearer to or away from the axis of the mould so as to facilitate removal of the cell from the mould. It will be seen that, in FIGS. 3 and 4, these walls are shown in the position in which they are nearer the axis of the mould. The lower wall 10, corresponding to the floor 2 of the cell 4, is displaceable horizontally and parallel with the axis of rotation of the mould on two rails 14 cooperating with rollers 15 provided for this purpose inside the mould, and with rollers 16 forming an extension of the row of rollers 15 and mounted on the ground. This lower wall 10 thus constitutes in known manner a movable base which enables the finished cell to be readily extracted from the mould.

There will now be provided a description of the method of production of the invention, the main purpose of which is to increase the production rate of a rotating mould of this kind.

The first stage of this method consists in arranging the metallic reinforcing means for strengthening the concrete walls of the cell. In accordance with the invention, these reinforcing means are arranged outside the rotaing mould on a jig frame 17 provided for the purpose and illustrated in FIG. 5. Thus, during the entire period in which the reinforcing means are being arranged, the rotating mould is free and can be used for casting another cell.

The jig 17 is formed of tubes of square cross-section and comprises certain retractible parts for facilitating extraction of the jig at a later stage. The top of the jig is also fitted with hoisting hooks 18 enabling it to be displaced. The welded openwork panels constituting the reinforcing means 19 are fitted on the jig 17 by means of steel angle bars. Furthermore, these openwork panels are solidly connected to the steel rods in the longitudinal webs, and various steel reinforcing rods are also positioned at the required places. Finally, heavy longitudinal corner irons 20, the purpose of which will be described in more detail later, are temporarily secured in the four corners of the jig 17.

The jig prepared in this manner is then lifted by the hooks 18 with the help of a hoist and is placed on the movable base 10 of the mould and outside the mould. Previously, the lower lagging for the bottom wall 2 and, if required, the lagging for the inner walls of the longitudinal webs 6 will have been placed in position on the movable base. The assembly is then introduced into the rotating mould as illustrated in FIG. 6, simply by pulling the movable base by means of a winch 21 provided for the purpose. When this happens, the movable base first rolls over the rollers 16 and then over the rollers 15, and is thus readily brought into the mould together with the jig carrying the reinforcing means 19. The walls 11 and 12 of the mould will of course previously have been moved farther apart by means of the hydraulic cylinder and piston units 13.

When the movable base 10 is in position inside the rotating mould, the walls 11 and 12 are moved towards each other again and the angle irons 20, carried by the jig 17, are then rigidly fixed in the four inside corners of the mould. For this purpose, and as illustrated in FIG. 7, there are provided nuts 22 which are welded at suitable places on the outer face of the two side walls 12 of the mould. Each of these nuts22 cooperates with a screwbolt 23, which is fitted inside the mould and passes right through a tapered sleeve 24 welded to the corresponding corner iron. These welded sleeves 24 act as stays and thus enable the corner irons 20 to be rigidly fixed at a predetermined distance from the walls of the mould, which distance corresponds exactly to the required thickness of the concrete walls of the cell 4. It will also be seen that each corner iron 20 has spaced transverse gussets 25 in its inside corner, the purpose of which gussets will be explained later.

When the four corner irons 20 are correctly secured inside the mould, the jig is retracted as illustrated in FIG. 8 after certain of its parts have been taken out. This jig can then be immediately used again for arranging the reinforcing means for the next cell, thus avoiding any loss of time. I

After the two prefabricated facing panels have been placed in position at the two ends of the mould, moulding proper of the cell proceeds, beginning for example with the wall constituting the floor 2. Because of the presence of the corner irons 20 a wall having a strictly uniform thickness can be obtained by using these corner irons as guide members for positioning and levelling the concrete with the help of vibrating straight-edges. Then, as illustrated in FIGS. 9 and 10, one or more sheet-metal or plywood panels 26 are placed on the flat face so formed, these panels being held in position by means of longitudinal wooden beams 27 and of metal cross-members 28, the ends of which are secured to the corner irons 20. The ends of these cross-members 28 are secured by means of heavy pegs 29 to the gussets 25 provided for the purpose on the corner irons 20, as illustrated in FIGS. 11 and 12.

Thus, the cell wall that has just been cast, i.e. the bottom wall 2 in this case, is firmly pressed against the corresponding wall of the mould, and this enables the latter to be turned without having to wait for the concrete to set completely. The drive motor 9 is actuated so as to turn the mould through a quarter of a revolution in either direction, and the fiat-casting of the corresponding lateral face 3 of the cell 4 is then carried out. After the concrete has been brought into position and levelled with the help of vibrating straight-edges, panels 26, held in position by beams 27 and cross-members 28, as previously are placed on this face. The same procedure is used for the top wall 1 and the other side-face 3 of the cell, the mould being turned through a quarter of a revolution each time until all the faces of the cell have been cast. Finally, by rotating the mould through a further 90 it is brought to its original position, i.e. as illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4. The cell 4 then has the appearance shown in FIG. 9, with its four corner irons 20 braced by the cross-members 28 which hold the panels 26 in position. It will also be seen, particularly from FIG. 10, that the cross-members 28 for one face are staggered in relation to the crossmembers for the adjacent faces, and each gusset 25 can accommodate only one cross-member at a time.

When the rotating mould has been brought to its initial position, the corner irons 20 are detached from the side walls 12 of the mould by simply removing the fixing screw-bolts 23. These walls, as well as the top wall 11, are moved outwards with the help of the hydraulic cylinder and piston units 13, and the cell can then be immediately removed from the mould on the movable base 10. Since the corner irons 20 remain in position and they are firmly braced by the cross-members 28, the walls of the cell 4 are firmly held in position, and there is no risk of the cell deforming even if it is not completely dry.

As illustrated in FIG. 13, the movable base 10, carrying the cast cell 4, is extracted from the mould by means of a winch 30 fitted on that side of the mould opposite to the winch 21 for pulling said base into the mould. Upon leaving the mould, the cell 4 is preferably passed directly to a transfer carriage 31 fitted with rollers 32 at its top. Under the action of the winch 30, the movable base 6 20 then firstly rolls over the rollers 15, then over the rollers 16 mounted on the ground and finally over the rollers 32 of the transfer carriage 31, as illustrated in FIG. 13.

The transfer carriage 31 is fitted with wheels 33 which cooperate with guide rails 34, and the carriage is adapted to move automatically along these rails 34 with the help of a drive motor 35. The cell can thus be quickly removed from the mould and placed, always on the base 10, at a suitable position where it can be dried as required with the help for example of hot panels or steam-jets.

It should be stated that final drying of the walls of the cell 4 in no way interferes with the output of the equipment. As soon as the cell has passed from the mould, another movable base, fitted with the reinforcing means and the corner irons for the next cell, is introduced into the mould. Thus, by providing a number of interchangeable movable bases 10 and several sets of corner irons 20 and cross-members 28, the cells could be left to dry on their respective bases for as long as required.

When the cell is fully dried, it is passed to a lifting station where the movable base 10 is pulled out from beneath the cell and then passed to the mould to be used again. At this lifting station the cross-members 28, the beams 27, the panels 26 and finally the corner irons 20 are also removed from the cell, and this then enables all the interior and exterior finishing operations to be carried out on the cell. All these components are of course gathered up to be used later on another cell.

It will be noted that the cross-members 28 can be detached very rapidly from the corner irons 20 by means of the pegs 29 which can be released manually. The corner irons can then be detached very easily from the side walls of the cell since the sleeves 24 are of tapered form. It might also be pointed out that as a result of the use of these corner irons, the inner corners of the cell are very sharp and clean.

By minimizing the time during which the rotating mould is immobilized, the method of production of the invention as described above thus enables the production rate of such a mould to be greatly increased Without the need for any great additional capital investment.

I claim: 1. A process for producing a cast concrete three-dimensional elongated building component having four walls forming substantially a hollow rectangle in cross section, employing an elongated mold rotatable about a substantially horizontal axis and having four mutually perpendicular mold members arranged to define substantially a rectangle in cross section, comprising the steps of: fixedly attaching elongated rigid corner members to said mold members adjacent each of the corners of said mold, said corner members being located inside said mold and extending longitudinally substantially the entire length thereof, each corner member having a pair of mutually perpendicular surfaces opposed to and extending parallel to the mold members defining the adjacent corner and being spaced therefrom a distance equal to the desired thickness of the walls of said building component;

positioning the mold in a first position so that one of the mold members is disposed in a substantially horizontal position;

casting concrete onto said one mold member to form a layer of concrete of substantially the same depth as and filling the space between said one mold member and the opposing surfaces of the corner members at the ends thereof;

positioning impervious panel means on the upper surface of said concrete layer so that said panel means extends between the opposing edges of the corner members at the ends of said layer and is substantially flush with said opposing surfaces of the corner members at the ends of said layer, whereby to cover the entirety of said layer between the corner members; attaching the opposite ends of cross members to the inner sides of the corner members at the opposite ends of said layer so that said cross members support said panel means and hold same in position;

rotating said mold from said first position to a second position wherein another one of said mold members is disposed in a substantially horizontal position and then repeating the aforementioned steps of casting, positioning and attaching, the steps of rotating, casting, positioning and attaching being repeated until all four of the side walls of the building component are formed in like fashion;

then detaching the corner members from said mold members while maintaining said corner members in position within the building component;

and curing the concrete.

2. A process according to claim 1, in which the corner members are attached to the mold members by securing the corner members to a jig positioned outside the mold, moving the jig into the mold, then fixedly attaching said corner members to said mold members, then disconnecting the corner members from the jig and removing the jig from the mold.

3. A process according to claim 2, including the step of placing precast end walls on the opposite longitudinal ends of the mold after the jig has been removed and prior to the first casting step.

4. A process according to claim 2 in which said jig is initially placed on a horizontally movable platform defining one of said mold members, said platform being separate from the other three mold members, moving said platform into cooperative relationship with the other three mold members to define said mold, fixedly attaching said corner members to said mold members, removing said jig, then carrying out repeated cycles of said steps of casting, positioning, attaching and rotating until all four side walls are formed, then moving said platform having said building component thereon substantially horizontally out of cooperative relationship 'with the other three mold members and utilizing said platform as a carrier for said building component during curing thereof and then removing the cured building component from said platform.

5. A process according to claim 4 in which after curing of the building component, the cross members, panel means and corner members are removed from the cured building component.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 969,071 8/ 1910 'Loomis 425-452 3,003,188 10/1961 Weiss 26431O 2,993,235 7/1961 Brown et al. 264-311 1,566,568 12/1925 Williams 425435 3,149,392 9/1964 Ripley 42525 3 2,5 67,666 9/1951 Gould 425435 ROBERT F. WHITE, Primary Examiner T. E. BALHOFF, Assistant Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R. 264-310 

